The Vermont Festival of Fools produced by Burlington City Arts returns August 4-6 with a jam packed weekend of street performances, comedy and music. In 2017, the diverse lineup will once again make for a fantastic interactive experience in downtown Burlington
Celebrating its tenth year, Festival of Fools features the best international street performers from around the globe. Four main stage locations surrounding the Church Street Marketplace and City Hall Park will feature continuous street theater, performing to over 10,000 visitors on Church Street each day. The Festival wraps up on Sunday with a grand finale featuring all the performers of the festival.
Friday evening’s Block of Fools Street Party will see Main Street closed between Church Street and South Winooski Avenue. The street will shut down to traffic at 1pm to accommodate setup for the event which begins at 5:45pm. The block party ends at 8:30pm; once clean-up crews are finished, Main Street will re-open in its entirety.
In light of this closure, here are some helpful tips for getting downtown to enjoy the festival:
- Access two hour free parking via Cherry Street. Marketplace Garage (147 Cherry St.) and Lakeview Garage (41 Cherry St.) offer two hour free parking.
- From East:
- Exit 14W off I89: utilize cross streets such as East Ave., University Pl., South Willard St. or South Union Ave. and navigate down Pearl St.
- From Winooski via Colchester Avenue: navigate down to Pearl St.; from Battery St., access two-hour parking on Cherry; utilize Cherry, College, King or Maple streets to get closer to downtown.
- From North:
- North Avenue: take North Ave. to Battery St., access two-hour parking on Cherry; utilize Cherry, College, King or Maple streets to get closer to downtown.
- Rt. 127: navigate down Park St to Battery St., utilize Battery or Pearl streets to get closer to downtown.
- From South: navigate north down Route 7 to Saint Paul Street, utilize Maple or King streets to Battery St. and access two-hour free parking via Cherry St.
On Saturday, starting at 1:30pm, Bank Street will close between Center Street and St. Paul. During this time Marketplace garage will remain open, but to avoid congestion, please use the Cherry Street entrance at 147 Cherry St. Bank Street is expected to reopen at 9:30pm on Saturday. Garage rates will be unchanged during the weekend.
Throughout the event, a small number of metered spaces in the downtown will be reserved for performers, so that they can unload equipment for events; these meters will be bagged to avoid confusion.
For more information about the 2017 Vermont Festival of Fools head to their website. Also, keep an eye our for event updates via Park Burlington’s Facebook, Twitter and website.